Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, center, makes his way as he arrives at the Imam Khomeini airport south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

(Newser)
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Iran continues to waffle on the details of the deal under consideration to ship its enriched uranium to Russia. Now it's saying that if it does agree to the deal—a formal response is due Friday—it won't send all of its uranium at once. Instead, it will send shipments to Russia in installments, a condition that would make the agreement largely pointless.

"One of the problems would be that a part of the stockpile would remain in Iran, so the risk of breakout capacity would still be there," one researcher tells the New York Times. Other analysts suggest that Tehran's latest declaration may simply be a trial balloon to see how the West reacts.